Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (Public Organization) or TCEB and National Innovation Agency (Public Organization) or NIA embark on a mission to elevate Thailand as a MICE leader in the world arena. Through a joint campaign so-called ‘INNOVATION THAILAND’, in alignment with the Thailand 4.0 Policy, Thailand’s innovative projects will be displayed at MICE marketing promotion events in Thailand and overseas countries. Aiming to build a brand image for Thailand that enhances the attribute of innovation, the partners also agree to establish the ‘Innovative District’ in MICE Cities to stimulate the distribution of income and develop innovation capability for MICE professionals. The collaboration is aimed to create a value-add for MICE industry, increase more MICE events, and use innovation-driven events to build the local economy.

Mr. Chiruit Isarangkun Na Ayuthaya President of TCEB said that MICE industry is recognised as one of the service sectors which play an essential role in driving the country’s economy. The industry can utilise innovation as a tool to enhance the competitive capabilities and distribute prosperity and income to different parts of the country. TCEB has the policy to strengthen and develop innovation together with intelligent information to increase the sustainable competitiveness of Thailand’s MICE industry by the year 2022. In accordance with the policy, TCEB's MICE Intelligence and Innovation Department has been established to strengthen the sector through the information and innovation. The department is determined to develop solutions and applications to facilitate event organisers as well as business event attendees, Furthermore, it has missions to provide the guidelines for innovation-related events, establish partnership with alliances in the innovation industry which are in both domestic and international levels in order to collaborate, exchange knowledge, and drive the innovation to support the MICE industry.

“With the aim to encourage and elevate MICE as a model industry for promoting intelligence and innovation, together with the intention to increase the sustainable competitiveness of Thailand MICE industry, TCEB and National Innovation Agency (NIA) signed a memorandum of understanding to enhance MICE industry through innovation and promote Thailand as a MICE hub that uses innovation to drive the local economy through business events. Both parties intend to jointly develop and improve the knowledge and income distribution to different regions through the marketing promotions, the development of MICE Cities, and the development of MICE professionals and MICE venues.”

Under the MOU, TCEB and the NIA share common objectives in promoting innovation through MICE business. With a 5-year term of the initial implementation, the "INNOVATION THAILAND" campaign will be enhancing development in key areas which are: Innovation Promotion: To promote and elevate Thailand as a MICE leader in the world arena with the use of innovation through MICE road shows and tradeshows in Thailand and overseas countries; Innovation District: To promote the area-based innovation through the development of "MICE City". The aim is to create the distribution of prosperity and income to the locals by using MICE activities to drive the creation of a business and service environment together with the use of the innovation as a basis of stakeholder collaboration to create sustainable development in the area; and Innovation Capability: To develop and increase the innovation capability for MICE professionals at all levels through the "MICE Academy" which will enable these professionals to apply innovation to increase the value-add for MICE industry.

Dr. Pun-Arj Chairatana, Executive Director of NIA, said that “The NIA has a comprehensive operation of the innovation developments in a variety of areas which respond to the change of today’s critical context. The five key areas are: The development of the entrepreneurs to increase the innovation capability and enhance skills in technology and innovation management for all levels through training activities and the enhancement of entrepreneurship; The development of innovation companies through different mechanisms including financial support, business consultant, and marketing expansion; The reduction of income inequality through the use of technology, creativity, and the distribution of basic infrastructures to increase the opportunity for all areas to access innovation; The establishment of awareness on the innovation in civil society to raise the recognition and the application of innovation for further development in different areas, and; The development of knowledge and database through studies, surveys, analyses, and academic evaluations to seek for issues, trends, and development of innovation which respond to what the country needs. This area also includes the creation of evaluation systems and tools that support the implementation of other areas through the development of IT innovation.”

“This collaboration is aimed to promote and elevate Thailand to be the MICE leader in the global area. Through the campaign so-called “INNOVATION THAILAND”, the activity will establish the country’s brand image on innovation attribute and also encourage the use of innovation to develop MICE activities and stimulate the local economy which is in line with the Thai Government’s Thailand 4.0 Policy. The campaign enhances the use of technology as a tool to drive MICE industry to meet the international standard and to become a hub for MICE business. It will raise the potential and innovation capability in the local areas through the establishment of Innovation District, which is aimed to create income distribution by integrating the collaboration from public and private sectors. Furthermore, the partnership between NIA and TCEB will enhance the development of human resource in MICE sector though series of training and seminar conducted by NIA Academy. The aim is to create the new generation of MICE entrepreneurs who can apply the innovation to increase the value-add for MICE industry,” added Mr. Pun-Arj.

Mr. Chiruit said, “The 5-year collaboration is expected to benefit Thailand’s MICE industry in term of the income distribution and the development of human resources which will be a key element to enhance the sustainable use of the innovation. The examples of successful projects conducted by TCEB’s MICE Intelligence and Innovation Department in the past are such as SMART MICE Innovation Awards: co-creation camp at the Knowledge Exchange Center; Service Design Workshop with MICE entrepreneurs; and SMART MICE Innovation Award. Meanwhile, the upcoming projects in the pipeline include the development of MICE Intelligence Website and Smart Biz Application (Phase II). Besides, TCEB and NIA plan to co-organize the Startup Idea Competition: Pro-league@ITW as well.”

The first collaborative project between TCEB and NIA under the MOU is “Triple B: Digitalization in Bleisure Business Boom” which is aimed to promote MICE industry through the innovation at the Startup Thailand 2018. It will be the first time for Thailand’s MICE sector to join hand with the Startup network on a joint mission to seek new ideas to enhance MICE travellers’ experience. The primary objective is to use the Digital Service Design and Innovation to drive the industry into the Smart MICE and keep up with the rapid change in the digital world. The event will be held on 17 May, 15.00 – 18.00 hrs., at the Bouncy Stage, Hall A - Queen Sirikit National Convention Center (QSNCC). Online registration opens now at www.Startupthailand.org.